


Strength Through Hard Work

by NeurotropicAgentX



Series: Tales from the Daemon-Verse [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Daemons, Dancing, Fantastical Dub-Con, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Power Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 15:28:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6430078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeurotropicAgentX/pseuds/NeurotropicAgentX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Relationships between daemons say a lot about their people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strength Through Hard Work

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-post from the TFA kinkmeme for [this](https://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/3467.html?thread=7354507#cmt7354507) prompt. This is a stand alone work, but it's loosely in the same continuity as my other TFA daemon AU. Shout out to my awesome editor for her invaluable assistance.

Even Hux didn’t call Suintha by her full name. The only times Elennia and Kylo heard it was during formal events where everyone got addressed in full. Elennia occasionally forgot and stalked forward to get a look at ‘Amalasuintha’, before remembering she was just Hux’s daemon. 

Right now Suintha was sitting primly beside Hux, her tail curled around her feet and her ears pricked forward with polite attentiveness. Hux was playing politics again. Elennia’s lips curled away from her teeth. 

Moments later Kylo poked her in the shoulder. ‘Stop staring at them,’ he said. ‘And this isn’t a battle—stop snarling like you’re trying to intimidate the room.’

Elennia growled under her breath, but relaxed her expression. ‘It’s not like _you_ could intimidate anyone here while you’re playing dress-ups,’ she replied. It was gratifying to see Kylo fidget in his formal robes. He looked ridiculous.

‘Why don’t you go back to sulking in a corner like you usually do,’ Kylo said.

Just for that, Elennia decided to shadow him for the rest of the event. After all, there weren’t a lot of daemons around the _Finalizer_ or Starkiller, considering the high number of stormtroopers, so she rarely interacted with others. Events like this were novel.

When the preliminary drinks and mingling had started to wind down, the small orchestra changed from atmospheric music to a common dance. It was a small-daemon dance and the first thing Elennia noticed was that Suintha dipped toward Hux and then toward the daemon she’d been chatting with. Elennia vaguely recognised the greysor daemon and his person as high-ranking officials in the planet’s military structure. It looked like the general had found a general to dance with. 

The greysor daemon was just a little too big to fit comfortably into a small-daemon dance, but not so large for it to be improper. Elennia was not at all surprised that Suintha and Hux knew how to dance. They were well-versed in the art of making-nice in any kind of power structure. And though Elennia would never say it out loud, Suintha could move. She was light on her paws and the arrogant arch of her back and tail fitted perfectly with this kind of event.

Then the music changed tempo and became a well-known dance for people with large daemons. Most of the small daemons and their people filed off the floor to make room for the new dance. Hux was clearly reluctant to stop dancing with his current partner. This was unsurprising considering her political position. Luckily the greysor was just large enough not to look stupid with the other large daemons during the dance. Of course Suintha was far too small to look anything but pathetic. How did she and Hux even know the steps to a large-daemon dance? 

‘Shall we?’ Kylo asked, gesturing lazily at the floor. There weren’t many figures out there now, as was the case with large-daemon dances. Still, Elennia hesitated. The prospect of playing nice with Kylo was grating, but this way she’d get an opportunity to mock Suintha face to face.

‘Let’s,’ she said, and even executed a perfect formal dip in Kylo’s direction to announce her intention. After all, they had both been trained in ceremonial protocol a lifetime ago. Kylo’s lip twitched upward in a brief smile. With the way his gaze kept wandering toward Hux, it was likely that he was thinking the same thing as her. 

They moved as one toward the floor, easily meshing with the flow of dancers and ending up in front of a minor dignitary. Kylo and the dignitary held hands and moved through the first few steps. Elennia found herself opposite the dignitary’s kybuck. They dipped formally and began circling each other to the appropriate rhythm. 

‘You dance well,’ Elennia said after a pause. The kybuck never missed a beat and he wasn’t reluctant to turn and show his back. Also his horns were pretty cool, for a herbivore.

‘Thank you,’ he replied.

‘Do you know the second set of forms?’ Elennia asked. 

The kybuck blinked. They’d only just met, after all, but then he appeared to smile. ‘Of course, we’re politicians. If you think you can keep up, and keep that impressive tail out of the way…’

Elennia let her tongue loll in response to the backhanded compliment. ‘Of course.’ 

She padded forward and the kybuck matched her step for step. Soon they were dancing shoulder to shoulder, with the occasional brush of her muzzle against his shoulder or his forelimb against her head. It was nice. Out of the corner of her eye, Elennia caught a glimpse of Kylo slipping a hand behind the dignitary’s neck. 

The music changed after a few more steps and all the partners dipped to each other before switching around. Elennia was in front of Suintha. To their left, Kylo and Hux clasped hands with ill grace.

‘Are you sure you’re okay all the way down there?’ Elennia mocked. ‘Perhaps you should jump on my back in case someone accidently steps on you.’

Suintha sent her a look of such disdain that Elennia was almost impressed. It was something in the twitch of her whiskers. ‘I’ll be fine, thank you,’ she sneered. ‘Besides, even that ugly patch of skin probably wouldn’t protect you from my claws.’

Elennia felt a strange spike of heat at the thought of Suintha’s claws digging into her hide, maybe drawing blood. She snorted to cover her agitation. ‘It’s like that to protect me from a raquor’daan tail. I’m sure it could stand up to your… claws.’

Suintha twined through the next steps. ‘Right, I’m sure you’re glad it’s there to protect you from your own tail too. Raquor’daans aren’t the most _graceful_ creatures, are they?’

‘A form like yours would get your person killed about five minutes into a battle. I’d like to see how _graceful_ you’d be after a taste of my venom,’ Elennia growled.

Suintha executed a leap through one of the moves that a large daemon would have just stepped. She should have looked silly, but instead she made it look like a natural extension of the dance. ‘Obviously you’d beat me in a physical fight, the same goes for our people. But I’m sure we all know that it doesn’t prove anything. There’s far more to power than simple brute strength.’

Elennia huffed, but didn’t really have a response. Beside them, their people danced well enough, but at this distance Elennia could tell just how stiffly Kylo was standing. Hux’s thumb brushed against the side of Kylo’s neck. Kylo shuddered and Hux’s expression turned mocking. Then Suintha ducked under one of her paws and Elennia nearly tripped. 

‘Pay attention,’ Hux’s daemon chastised. ‘You’re nearly losing the rhythm.’ Elennia snarled to herself and her tail curled forward, but she resumed focus. It was nearly time to swap partners anyway.

///

The stormtroopers huddled together at one end of the command shuttle. Suintha sat neatly in the centre of Hux’s lap where no one would accidently brush against her. She looked over to where Elennia was hunkered down at the other end of the shuttle, facing away from everyone. Her tail lashed at unpredictable intervals. 

‘Must your daemon always spread herself across an entire space?’ Hux asked.

Suintha licked one of her paws, but kept an eye on Elennia. Her tail had gone still for the barest moment before resuming its movements. 

‘He’s got a point,’ Ren said.

Suintha blinked. It was always slightly shocking to see a person undermining their daemon in public. Even if their daemon often did the exact same thing. Elennia growled under her breath, but grudgingly turned around so her tail was against the wall. An audible sound of relief came from the stormtroopers.

‘So how did Phasma get out of this event, again?’ Ren asked as if nothing had just happened.

‘Something about training simulations,’ Hux replied. ‘However, I suspect she just hates any event where she would be required to leave her armour behind.’

Ren snorted.

Suintha wasn’t paying that much attention to their people’s conversation. She was watching Elennia’s golden eyes and remembering the way she’d danced. Her form had been surprisingly elegant for such a large daemon. It was a stark contrast to the way she always seemed to sprawl so carelessly. Suintha went back to grooming. It wouldn’t do to be seen staring. Her person relied on her to keep his image of professional detachment. Then again, with the way Hux had been behaving toward Ren, she could be forgiven the odd slip. 

Suintha deliberately looked over at one blank wall while she replayed the conversation she’d had with Elennia. She wondered if her claws really could pierce Elennia’s hide. She wondered just how Elennia would respond to that. Hux ran a hand over her fur and gave her a meaningful look. Suintha arched her back slightly and flexed her claws in a silent response. They seldom disagreed with one another.

///

Elennia was uneasy about the way Kylo and Hux had continued to snipe at each other, even when they got off the shuttle. She tended to keep Suintha in her line of sight as a matter of course, but right now their people were drawing a lot of her attention. Kylo was crowding Hux against a wall. Suintha was entirely unmoved and had started licking one of her paws. When she noticed Elennia’s gaze, she arched her back and padded over. 

Hux and Kylo had stopped exchanging barbs and the tone of their conversation had shifted, but Elennia’s attention was now focused entirely on the way Suintha was slinking up to her. Some ridiculous instinct made Elennia crouch. One swipe of her paw could have incapacitated Suintha, but here she was, hunkering down for no logical reason. 

There was a muffled thud as one of their people was slammed against the opposite wall. It could have been either of them. The phantom sensation of teeth and touch filtered vaguely through Elennia’s bond with Kylo. She growled.

‘Easy there,’ Suintha crooned. She wound between Elennia’s paws, her tail brushing the underside of her muzzle. Elennia dipped her head to look Suintha directly in the eye.

‘I don’t care what my idiot person is doing, I’m not going to let you walk all over me.’

Suintha gave a soft laugh and stretched up to nip at Elennia’s ear. Elennia shuddered. Behind her, Kylo made an odd noise high in his throat.

‘Mm, it wouldn’t be much fun if you simply _let_ me, but I’m sure you could be… persuaded that it’s in your own best interest,’ Suintha said. Then her expression froze. She hissed and padded down the corridor away from Elennia. ‘Neither of our people seem to be thinking very clearly right now,’ she muttered.

Elennia cocked her head, but felt the mildest beginnings of the separation tug a few moments later. ‘Oh,’ she said, pacing behind Suintha, ‘that’s the limit of your range. It must be pretty inconvenient for the two of you.’

‘Not all of us can be Force-steeped masochists like you two,’ Suintha sniffed. ‘Some of us have sensible, normal ranges.’ The slight bristle of her tail was gratifying. For a moment Elennia thought about pressing her down to the ground with a paw, but Hux would probably just walk back. Besides, with the way this was going she’d get the opportunity to do that and more later.

They arrived at Hux’s quarters. Kylo was standing very close to Hux as he keyed in his entry code. Elennia kept shooting looks at Suintha, but without making it too obvious. Kylo and Hux were doing people things like shedding their clothes, but that hardly mattered to Elennia. Far more important was the way Suintha was sauntering up to her, all smug self-assurance. 

‘Get down here,’ Suintha demanded. Elennia bared her teeth. She swiped out with one paw. Her battle-trained reflexes were much too fast for Suintha to dodge. In a second she had Suintha pinned to the durasteel floor of Hux’s quarters.

‘Actually, I think I like you down there,’ Elennia said. She flexed her paw, grinding down slightly along Suintha’s spine.

‘You oversized lump,’ Suintha spat, ‘this proves _nothing_.’

Elennia leaned down and licked Suintha between the ears. ‘I think it proves that should maybe have more respect for a daemon big enough to pin you the ground so easily. I don’t like being ordered around.’

Suintha growled, but she didn’t try and struggle. Elennia basked in her victory right up until an odd sensation slid through her bond with Kylo. Perceptions didn’t translate exactly between person and daemon. Strangely enough, emotions had the greatest impact through the bond. It was useful during training when pain and anger could be bounced back and forth through a bond. It led to amplification that could strengthen access to the dark side. 

Whatever was happening between the people, who were now lying on the bed, it was… distracting. It was hard to separate out Kylo’s influence at times like this when the boundaries between thought and action were fluid. Elennia shivered, her pelt twitching slightly on her back. She didn’t notice that Suintha had slipped out from under her paw, until she felt teeth in her leg. She started to snap back, but then froze. Hux had put his hand on her head. 

He ran his fingers over one ear. Elennia whined. It should have felt awful. Whenever it happened in training or in rare moments during battle, it did. The crawling wrongness of unwanted touch was an intense vertigo and nausea. This was different, impossible to describe. Elennia’s muscles seized as conflicting impulses raced through her. She wanted to lean into the touch. She wanted to throw Hux’s hand off and stab him with her tail. Suintha just stared at her. 

Then Kylo _solved_ a problem, for once. Only a heartbeat passed before Elennia felt the pleasant wrench of the Force and Hux was thrown away from her and back against the bed. Kylo snarled at him, but Hux just gave a nasty little laugh.

Suintha was still staring, but now her expression was smug. She delicately licked one of her paws before saying, ‘You enjoyed that.’

Elennia growled and crouched down, readying her tail. In a blur of motion, Suintha darted forward and laid her paws on either side of Elennia’s muzzle. Her claws extended slightly, pricking at the thin fur beneath Elennia’s eyes. Elennia blinked rapidly, but otherwise went very still. 

‘Don’t you threaten me,’ Suintha hissed. 

Elennia glared for a long moment, but in the end she reluctantly lowered her tail until it was flat against the floor. The self-satisfied look on Suintha’s face was almost too much. Then she had the audacity to lick a stripe up the side of Elennia’s muzzle. The sound Elennia made in response was halfway between a growl and a whine.

‘Better,’ Suintha said.

Elennia was losing focus. Kylo was getting too distracted by whatever was going on between him and Hux. Suintha seemed to be having none of those problems and sprang onto Elennia’s back. Elennia yelped and shook slightly. As much as she’d tried to avoid it, she’d been thinking about this ever since the conversation on the dance floor.

‘Keep still, now,’ Suintha purred. ‘I wouldn’t want to go any deeper than I intended.’ 

Elennia kept herself still. She wasn’t sure what the sharp tips of Suintha’s claws would do against hide that was meant to stop the blunt power of a raquor’daan tail. ‘Just get on with it,’ she gritted out.

Suintha flexed her claws, the points sliding into flesh. Elennia was glad she was already low to the ground or she might have collapsed. The bright sparks of pain raced along her nerves, leaving a strange and almost pleasant heat in their way. ‘Suintha…’

Behind them, Kylo made a strangled noise and Hux said something low and pleased in response.

Suintha leapt down to the ground and raised one paw to lick the spots of blood from the tips of her claws. Elennia shivered. She could still feel those claws in her back, sharp and hot. Then, acting entirely on impulse, she stretched out on the floor. The durasteel was cold under her side. A part of her couldn’t quite believe that she’d bare even this much of her underside, but a much louder part was focused on Suintha’s predatory expression. 

‘Oh yes,’ Suintha breathed, ‘you look incredible like this.’ 

Elennia closed her eyes, not quite willing to see the triumph blossoming in Suintha’s eyes. The next thing she registered was the feeling of Suintha’s claws combing gently through the fur of her belly. She twitched at the sensation, her instincts flaring between danger and something else entirely. 

‘Please,’ she said, not quite sure what she was asking. 

Suintha made a satisfied sound. A second later her claws drew back. Elennia had just enough time to open her eyes before Suintha’s teeth gently closed over her throat. Elennia gasped and arched into it. Behind her something happened with Kylo and Hux. Everything whited out for a moment until all she could sense was the way Suintha was purring against her neck.

///

Kylo blinked and looked over at the two daemons. Suintha was grooming Elennia’s ruff and his daemon seemed entirely at peace with it. Ordinarily something like that would have made Kylo scowl, but right now he was feeling too languid to care. Hux’s daemon seemed to notice his scrutiny. She stood up in a sinuous movement and leapt onto the bed. Elennia gave a soft whine of protest, but stayed where she was. 

Hux shifted slightly at his daemon’s approach and made space for her to curl up against his side. He gave a nearly inaudible sigh and absently stroked the fur along her spine. His daemon made an odd chirping sound and then started purring. 

Kylo exchanged a look with Elennia. He wasn’t suggesting anything, as such, just… noting things. Elennia gave a huff and looked away, but she rose and took the few steps to put her in his reach. He sank a hand into her fur and scratched lightly at her neck and shoulder. For once Elennia didn’t say anything. She sat down and rested her head on the mattress, looking up at him with her large golden eyes. 

Kylo felt himself being watched and turned his gaze to Hux and his daemon. Both of them were watching him and while he couldn’t quite read Suintha, Hux was wearing a faint smile. 

‘Is something amusing you?’ Kylo asked.

Hux stretched in a way that honestly would have suited Suintha better. ‘Not quite,’ Hux said. ‘I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you touch your daemon before.’

Kylo blinked and looked down, but Elennia wouldn’t meet his eyes. ‘It helps with our range,’ he lied.


End file.
